DC’s Legends of Tomorrow Season 2 “Compromised” Recap

It’s 1987 and unlike Mick, I really do love the 80s as it was filled with great music (love the choice songs included in the episode as “I just died in your arms tonight” by Cutting Crew was a fave at the time) but the fashion and hair of the time I will admit was questionable.

And we see that fashion play out as we open the episode with Damien Darhk looking like Sonny Crockett from Miami Vice completing a deal to procure a ceremonial axe from the time of Emperor Nero. When the deal starts to go south Eobard Thawne speeds in to kill everyone except Darhk. Thawne wants to team up with Darhk but the latter doesn’t seem too keen even after Thawne cryptically brings up things that Darhk will do in Arrow season 4.

Back in the temporal time zone, Jax is keen to change history for the better while Martin just wants them to keep on their mission course to just fix the aberrations and Sara agrees with Martin.

Elsewhere on the Waverider, Rory is training Ray to use the Snart’s cold gun that doesn’t quite go well. Rory’s advice to Ray is to don’t play by the rules and just keep it cool.

In another part of the ship, Nate is working on a machine to find aberrations before they happen via a time quake. While he is tinkering with the device, Nate asks Amaya more about his grandfather. Amaya only says that Commander Steel was a good man and that members of the JSA were not encouraged to fraternize, something the Legends should heed.

The machine starts to go off and we learn the aberration is Washington, DC 1987 the day before the nuclear peace summit is to take place that effectively ends the Cold War. Martin knows all about this as he was at the summit. Amaya believes they can also find out what is going on by going to a JSA training facility so she and Nate take off to go there.

When Amaya and Nate arrive they find the training facility has seen better days and soon are attacked by Obsidian now a man in his late 70s (Lance Henrickson). Obsidian wants to know why Amaya abandoned the JSA and she tells him that Rex said his killer was a time traveler and it made sense for her to go after the Legends. Obsidian then tells Amaya what happened to the JSA after she left. We also learn that while the JSA weren’t supposed to fraternize, Rex and Amaya fell in love and were set to leave the JSA to start a life together.

Meanwhile, the rest of the team goes on a tour of the White House and each split off to discover the aberration. Jax and Martin see the young Stein walking the halls of the White House and this is strange to Martin as he was supposed to be on the Hill. The two hide so as to not be seen by young Martin.

Ray and Rory find Reagan’s jellybeans when they see the source of the aberrations: Damien Darhk, who has gotten in Reagan’s administration to help with the nuclear peace deal. Ray lets Sara know about Darhk and she abandons the tour to get her revenge. However, the secret service try to stop Sara from killing Darhk and this prompts Ray and Rory with their cold and heat guns to save Sara from them. As shots start to fire, Firestorm comes in to stop the bullets and Ray and Rory fire their respective guns. Rory wants Ray to leave as he has it handled but Ray refuses as he doesn’t play by the rules and their stream cross and causes and explosion. Everyone flees back to the Waverider.

Back on the Waverider, the team watch a news report (anchored by former Global BC Morning News anchor, Randene Neill), Jax and Stein are not happy with Sara for wanting to enact her revenge in Laurel’s name. Stein says they can’t kill Darhk now as they don’t know what that would do to the time line. Sara says that Laurel did everything to bring her back to life and she owes it to her to do the same and that Martin doesn’t care about anything.

Later, Gideon lets the Legends know about a night time meeting that Darhk is going to have, which they find highly suspicious considering it is the night before the peace deal. Ray and Rory are tasked to listen in on the meeting. While they wait to see what goes down, Ray and Rory discuss how to evolve their partnership. Their conversation is put on hold when we see that Darhk is meeting a KGB agent to finalize their deal. Unfortunately, an unexpected guest interrupts the meeting: young Martin. Martin is surprised at this as he was supposed to be celebrating Clarissa’s birthday, an event he carefully planned.

When young Martin chats on about getting Darhk’s help in getting his transmutation research in front of Reagan, he starts to noticing the KGB agent and for his trouble, Darhk stabs him and immediately Martin collapses on the Waverider. Ray and Rory go to young Martin and bring him aboard the Waverider where he sees his older self. As Gideon works on him, Martin is worried about Clarissa as she is alone in their hotel room on her birthday. Jax goes to Clarissa to let her know that her husband is working late. As Martin and his younger self recovers, he can’t believe that he ever was that man, who was so self-absorbed with his work.

On the night of the State Dinner, Obsidian has got the Legends tickets to it. Jax and Martin see Clarissa and the latter asks her to dance. As the two dance, Clarissa doesn’t quite understand why her Martin asked her to come on the trip since they’ve barely spent time with each other. Martin tells Clarissa to be patient with her husband and she feels like they’ve danced together before.

In the basement of the White House, Sara, Rory, Ray, Nate, Amaya and Obsidian see the deal go down and then interrupt it. Obsidian and Amaya follows Darhk and unfortunately Obsidian gets shot but ends up being okay.

Ray and Rory are tasked to stop a bomb at the State Dinner. Ray has a moment of doubt but Rory tells him that him that he should just be who he is and that he can science him out of any situation. So Ray takes apart the cold gun to stop the bomb with seconds to spare.

When Sara gets to Darhk, he recognizes her from 1942 but she decides not to kill him. However, I really don’t agree with her next move. Sara then proceeds to tell Darhk how his wife gets killed, how he was willing to kill his daughter and how his plans for his Ark fails. Sara pretty much details how Darhk will rise and fall in Arrow season 4. I really don’t think that was such a smart move on Sara’s part. Darhk then gets whisked away by Thawne and the Legends realize that Darhk is working with a speedster.

Back on the Waverider, Martin gives his younger self some sage advice to not take Clarissa for granted and to cherish her.

And something I’ve noticed since Maisie Richardson-Sellers came on the show is that she has chemistry pretty much with everyone on the show. I think I paired off with first Rory in the first episode then I think Ray in the second episode as they shared a moment. Then in last week’s episode, I felt that perhaps Amaya and Jax had something there too. Now in this week’s episode, I now think it is Amaya and Nate who will eventually get together. My basis for this is when Obsidian refused to join the Legends and remain in 1987 to stay with his boyfriend, he tells Amaya that if love comes to her again to grab it and hold on to it. When Obsidian says that, Nate walks into the room.

At the end of the episode, Darhk tells Thawne about what Sara told her and he wants to change his fate. So Thawne shows Darhk his time machine and asks him to enter. Thawne speeds up to open up a portal and he runs in and his machine gets sucked in. Who knows what Thawne and Darhk is up to and not quite sure if I want to know especially if this screws up what happens across the other shows.